World Masters Games
Statusactive
Genre
Frequencyquadrennial
Inaugurated7 August 1985 (1985-08-07)
Most recent21–30 April 2017
Next event17–30 May 2025
Organised byInternational Masters Games Association
Websiteimga.ch
Masters Games
2017 World Masters Swimming 800M Freestyle Men Heat 2

The World Masters Games[1] is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind.[2] Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA),[3] the World Masters Games is open to sports people of all abilities and most ages – the minimum age criterion ranges between 25 and 35 years depending on the sport. Auckland, New Zealand hosted the event's ninth edition from 21 to 30 April 2017.[4]

Anyone can participate in the games so long as they are over the age of 35 though some sports will allow athletes who are younger than that. Participants compete for themselves – there are no country delegations. Beyond the age requirement and membership in that sport's governing body, there are no competition qualification requirements.

History

Peter Wright - Three times World Masters Squash Champion

Toronto staged the first World Masters Games in 1985. Since then, World Masters Games has also taken place in Aalborg, Aarhus and Herning (1989), Brisbane (1994), Portland, Oregon (1998), Melbourne (2002), Edmonton (2005) and Sydney (2009). The Sydney 2009 World Masters Games attracted a record 28,676 competitors.[5][6] This is more than double the number of competitors that took part in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The Games has been popular with retired professional athletes and former Olympic competitors, with over 230 past Olympians taking part in the 2009 edition.[7]

Summer Games

Edition Year Host Sports Countries Competitors Motto
1 1985 Canada Toronto 22 61 8,305 The Year of the Masters
2 1989 Denmark Aalborg, Aarhus, Herning 37 76 5,500 Sport for life
3 1994 Australia Brisbane 30 74 24,500 The challenge never ends
4 1998 United States Portland 28 102 11,400 The global celebration of sport for life
5 2002 Australia Melbourne 26 98 24,886 The biggest multi-sport festival on Earth
6 2005 Canada Edmonton 25 89 21,600 A festival of sport in the city of festivals
7 2009 Australia Sydney 28 95 28,676 Fit, fun and forever young
8 2013 Italy Turin 30 99 15,394 Sport for life, Sport for all
9 2017 New Zealand Auckland 28 100 28,578 For the Love of Sport
10 2025 Taiwan Taipei, New Taipei 32 – – Sports beyond Age & Life without Limits
11 2027 Japan Kansai – –

2013 World Masters Games

Venues[8][9]

2017 World Masters Games

Venues

[11]

Winter Games

Edition Year Host Sports Countries Competitors Motto
1 2010 Slovenia Bled 7 42 3,000 The Games for you
2 2015 Canada Quebec City 9 20 1,600 *
3 2020 Austria Innsbruck 12 3,500 Spirit Together
4 2024 Italy Lombardy

Sports

2017 Summer Games Sports List (28) :[12]

Americas Masters Games

The Americas Masters Games is a regional multi-sport event which involves participants from the Americas region. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the Americas Masters Games is open to participants of all abilities and most ages – the minimum age criterion is 30 years.[13] Participants compete for themselves, instead of their countries. There are no competition qualification requirements apart from the age requirement and membership in that sport's governing body.[14]

The event's first edition was hosted by Vancouver, Canada from 26 August to 4 September 2016.[15] The second edition was scheduled for 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World Masters Games". International Masters Games Association. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  2. ^ Malkin, Bonnie (12 October 2009). World Masters Games: barefoot Santa Claus and 100-year-old shot putter compete. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  3. ^ "International Masters Games Association". International Masters Games Association. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Glowing report on World Masters Games". The New Zealand Herald. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  5. ^ 2009 Sydney World Masters Games. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  6. ^ "Melbourne 2002 World Masters Games Final Report" (PDF). International Masters Games Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  7. ^ Jeffery, Nicole (10 October 2009). Olympians back up for World Masters Games. The Australian. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  8. ^ "Sport". Torino 2013 WMG. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Final Report WMG2013 by International Masters Games Association IMGA". Issuu. 2 December 2014.
  10. ^ "CH4 Sporting Club - Torino" (in Italian). 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Sports Schedule". World Masters Games 2017. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017.
  12. ^ "» IMGA". Archived from the original on 25 October 2017.
  13. ^ About
  14. ^ "Final report" (PDF).
  15. ^ "Vancouver 2016".
  16. ^ "Postponed: Pan-American Masters Games 2020".

External links

World Masters Games
Multi-sport events
Masters athletics
International sports federations
Authority control databases
Categories